Edward Achorn: Requiem for a Boomer

When I spoke sorrowfully about the passing of George Scott last week, two different people looked at me with puzzled faces and asked, “The actor?”Sic transit gloria mundi.No, George “Boomer” Scott, of...

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Posted Aug. 6, 2013 @ 12:01 am

When I spoke sorrowfully about the passing of George Scott last week, two different people looked at me with puzzled faces and asked, “The actor?”

Sic transit gloria mundi.

No, George “Boomer” Scott, of the Red Sox. My hero when I was 10 years old, rooting with all my heart for the Impossible Dream team of 1967. Boomer was the reason I dreamed of becoming a first baseman, wearing that big mitt that was half my size. I succeeded only in becoming perhaps the worst Little League player in history.

But I can still see him — a big man, with a tendency toward corpulence, but with soft hands and lightning footwork. He could scoop up anything with that glove he called “Black Beauty.” What a joy it was to watch him vacuuming up ground balls with that swaggering grace!

He could also bust the ball a mile, blasting home runs that he called “taters.” Best of all was his personality: sweet, gentle, with a love of laughter and a propensity to flash a big smile with dazzling gold teeth. A kid had to love him.

He was signed by the scout who found Hank Aaron, and touted in some circles as just as good. Boomer, though, proved to be a streaky hitter, and clubbed “only” 271 home runs, a far cry from Hank’s 755. He had his greatest season with the Milwaukee Brewers, in 1975, when he led the league in home runs (36, tied with Reggie Jackson) and runs batted in (109).

Poor George had trouble with his weight all his life. Not the shrewdest of men, he went bankrupt.

But I will always remember him as he looked in 1967 (.303, 19 home runs), when I would listen to his heroics under a pillow over a transistor radio after my parents had sent me to bed.

For sheer joy, it’s hard to beat that. Thank you for everything, Boomer. I know you’ll club a lot of taters up there.